Woodbridge earns fourth at OC Academic Decathlon and earns a bid to state competition

At a Feb. 12 award ceremony, Woodbridge High’s Academic Decathlon team learned that it placed fourth overall in the 45th annual Orange County Academic Decathlon, and that wasn't the only good news. The school also earned an invite to compete at the state competition in March.

As the name implies, the Academic Decathlon is a 10-event scholastic contest staged at the county, state and national levels. Nine-member squads must include three “A” students, three “B” students and three “C” students, and all of them are put through the ringer with multiple-choice exams, speeches, interviews and essay assignments. The two-day event culminates with the fast-pace Super Quiz Relay in front of a live audience. This year’s Woodbridge team is coordinated by science teacher Mike Nakaue and features captain Judy Shon, a senior; fellow seniors Helena Tubb, Samantha Huang, Elizabeth Sengoba and Manal Fatima; juniors Joanne Kim, Victoria Ozuna and Henry Ammermann; and sophomore Kevin Li. Li, by the way, posted the second highest overall score at the county competition, which was held Jan. 26 and Feb. 2, and Shon placed fifth. Tubb placed fifth in her grade division, while Ozuna placed seventh in her division. And now it's time to prep for the California Academic Decathlon, which will be held March 14-17 in Sacramento. This season’s competition theme, as determined by the United States Academic Decathlon Association, is “Russia.”